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Lanworth boosts U.S. corn, soy harvest view after rains

Crop forecaster Lanworth said on Wednesday it raised its outlook for 2013/14 U.S. corn and soybean production due to recent rains that boosted yield expectations.

Lanworth said it expects the corn harvest to be 13.930 billion bushels, up from its previous outlook of 13.720 billion issued two weeks ago. It upped its soybean production view to 3.420 billion bushels from 3.380 billion.

The recent rains across the U.S. corn belt also caused Lanworth to cut expectations for corn acreage in places like North Dakota, Kansas and South Dakota, but the improved soil moisture was expected to more than make up for the reduced seedings.

Corn yields were seen at 158.1 bushels per acre, up from 155.8 bushels per acre, with the biggest gains coming in Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

U.S. wheat production for the 2013/14 crop year was seen at 2.007 billion bushels, slightly lower than its previous estimate of 2.020 billion.

Lanworth also set its forecast for 2013/14 Australian wheat production at 25.0 million tonnes, a 13 percent jump from a year ago. Soil moisture at or above normal in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Queensland keyed the increase.

In South America, Lanworth raised its estimate of 2012/13 corn production in Brazil to 77.1 million tonnes from 76.1 million due to satellite imagery that showed a rapid increase in crop vegetation density.

It also slightly increased its forecast of 2013/14 China corn production to 217 million tonnes from 216 million and 2013/14 Russian wheat production to 50.8 million tonnes from 50.4 million.

Lanworth is a brand of Thomson Reuters Commodities Research and Forecasts. A Lanworth spokesman said the reported estimates are the midpoints of confidence ranges.